Waking Up in Vegas
by livinglovely
Summary: "Sam," he slurs as his right hand fingers his ninth shot of tequila, "of all people, I never saw you as the marrying type." Sam laughs as she downs her shot without skipping a beat, her diamond engagement ring glistening under the dim light of the hotel bar; her eyes twinkle with mischief, "is that a dare, Benson?" Rated T for now.
1. Prologue

_BuzzBuzzBuzz_.

The incessant buzzing of a cell phone finally reaches the conscious of the blonde and Samantha Puckett's tangle of blonde curls stirs slightly. She's not a great fan of moving, though, because her head is pounding and the pillow her cheek is resting upon is very comfortable. In fact, it's _very_ comfortable and _flesh-like_.

At that realization Sam's eyes pop open. As soon as the initial pounding wave of her hangover subsides and her vision clears, she begins taking in her surroundings. She registers the fact that she is in a fancy hotel room with a nice view of the city of Las Vegas_. _She and her warm pillow are resting upon a King-sized bed with red sheets and a heart-shaped headboard, the honeymoon special. She groans. Clothes, rose petals, and empty bottles of alcohol are strewn all over the crimson carpet of the room. The sheer amount of _desire-red_ in the room makes her want to vomit, but the massive hangover doesn't help, either. There is a room service tray next to the wall filled with the remnants of strawberries and whipped cream. As she reaches to touch her matted curls, she realizes that the whipped cream is also leftover in her hair.

Sam's head is resting upon the very soft pillow of a man's shirtless chest, which rises softly as he snores. His face is covered by a pillow, but tufts of soft brown hair stick out wildly, and the pieces of last night start to assemble. _Vegas. Her bachelorette party. A sketchy little chapel. _As she looks down at her own form, she realizes that she is naked aside from a gold ring on the ring finger of her right hand and the tangle of sheets that lazily cover her and the mystery man.

The gravity of the situation sets in and Sam clenches her jaw as she slowly removes the pillow from the man's face. She clamps her eyes shut and slowly begins to open them when the pillow is in her grasp. Freddie Benson, peacefully snoring, comes into view. She takes him in from face to wedding band-adorned right hand to naked waist, willing herself not to panic and formulating a plan of escape and denial in her head.

Before she can make a run for it, her attention is diverted to the cell phone laying on the floor near the bed. For what she assumes to be the millionth time, Sam's phone buzzes and she walks and grabs it from the floor, not yet ready to face the reality of the situation.

5 missed calls, 7 unread text messages. The most recent:

**Carly**: Sam! Where are you? The wedding starts in 30 MINUTES!

Today is the day of Sam's wedding, and Freddie Benson is most certainly not the groom.

_Oh shit_.


	2. Chapter 1: Surprise!

**Hey guys! I just wanted to thank you for all of the kind reviews for the prologue :) I'm just easing back into writing, so please tell me what you do or don't enjoy, I'm thrilled to hear it all! The first few chapters of this story will be a little slower because I have to provide some background, but the next chapter will move at a faster pace, I promise! **

* * *

**Two days earlier**

Carly Shay walked past the bridesmaids lined up at the Shay apartment, hands on her hips and authority etched in her face, much like a sergeant would march past his troops when preparing them for battle.

This was Sam's wedding, so it was actually pretty close to war.

When Sam had asked Carly to be her maid of honor, the gears in Carly's head started turning and she took full brunt of the responsibility to make her best friend's wedding _perfect_. This was made a bigger responsibility given Sam was so indecisive when it came to calling the shots on color schemes or necklines.

8 years ago, when iCarly had come to an end and the bunch had graduated high school, it would have been a shock that Sam was the first of the core to get married. But after a year of travelling through the United States on motorcycle Sam settled back down in Seattle and took up studying criminal justice at SSCC, South Seattle Community College. The subject appealed to her and, given Sam's many unfortunate run-ins with the law and impressive juvie record, she had a network of chummy cops on her side which scored her a job with the Seattle Police Department fresh out of college, where she met Ted, who was the newest police officer to join the force.

Ted was the same age as the bunch and happened to be an excellent cook on the BBQ; the first night Sam introduced Ted to Carly and Freddie, he cooked up some barbeque pork that, there and then, made Sam and the rest of the gang fall in love.

They had been dating for four years before Ted had popped the question, and Sam automatically said 'yes – if only for a lifetime's supply of your barbeque pork'.

"In a million years, I never thought I would fall in love with a police officer!" Sam had called Carly with playfulness in her voice after Ted had proposed. Both girls melted into screams and giggles over the phone. Carly then naturally accepted the honor of being Sam's maid of honor.

Despite differing paths once iCarly had ended, Carly, Sam, and Freddie managed to keep their friendship intact. They met regularly at Pini's bar to discuss their lives. When Sam gave the announcement that she was getting married, Joe, the bartender, lavished them with drinks on the house.

Sam and Freddie remained Sam and Freddie, bickering constantly. But over the years their fights had developed into well-intentioned poking fun. Gone was the physical violence, replaced by witty comebacks and jabs at the other's self-esteem; it was almost like a choreographed dance, so anyone watching was easily amused by their cunning banter.

After Sam's announcement, Freddie stayed eerily quiet despite a forced smile on his face. He downed the free drinks like they were water, though.

He had taken a year off after high school, despite his mother's protests, to travel. He explored Europe, where he gained perspective and ate different, wonderful foods. He briefly visited Carly and Colonel Shay in Italy, hoping to clear the air between himself and Carly about the kiss. He told her how much he valued their friendship, hoping they could remain just so. Carly understood and, even more than that, could see how hopelessly caught up he was with the other part of their triangle, the blonde who was travelling the States to find out who she was, herself.

Freddie was part of the reason Carly decided to move back to Seattle, and Carly was part of the reason he made his way back to the United States. She nudged him to find Sam and tell her his feelings before it was too late.

Carly had never heard the full story, but apparently the two had finally met up in Nebraska. Neither spoke about what had happened there; Sam's response whenever she was asked was a sigh, "later, Carls". While Freddie replied with the angsty "I don't want to talk about it." Whatever it was, something bad had happened between her two best friends, but she decided not to push it. Whatever it was, it would work itself out.

Afterward, Sam and Freddie returned to Seattle and started up college. They never talked about what had happened in Nebraska, but their friendship remained the same despite some rocky, "I'm-ignoring-you" patches in the beginning.

Freddie decided to attend Lake Washington Technical College, where he majored in computer engineering and minored in 'finally getting out of his overprotective mother's grasp'. Over the years, Freddie had grown up and filled out into a very handsome man, but he still dated infrequently despite having constant offers throughout college. After he graduated, he took a job with the Seattle branch of Pear electronics, which allowed him to stay in Seattle with his friends.

Carly had come back from Italy just a year after moving there with her dad because she missed her friends and, well, she just couldn't find a nice boy to share a spaghetti taco with – they weren't thought to be a specialty there, go figure. She transferred to the University of Washington where she studied broadcasting and communications. The incidental fame that came along with iCarly made job hunting a piece of cake, so after she graduated she took a job as the prime time anchor for Channel 4 News, which was Seattle's premier news station.

Accessing the good ole' Shay military instincts, Carly had handled the wedding planning pretty well. The bridesmaids, Tasha, Wendy, and Sam's friend Abby from college, all quickly accepted their roles as troops and did whatever Carly requested of them in order to get all of the wedding planning completed.

With the wedding two days away, all of the plans were set in motion to execute the day seamlessly. All that was left was Sam's bachelorette party, which Sam was adamant about not having. Something about all of those man-parts making her feel all "icky".

But Carly had something else in mind. She and the bridesmaids had planned out an amazing evening in Las Vegas. They would catch a flight early the next morning and spend the day drinking fancy-schmancy cocktails and gambling in the hotel casino.

Carly knew the gambling and competition would bring a glint to Sam's eye that the girl could not deny.

As Carly stopped her authoritative march in front of the three girls, she beckoned Wendy to turn off the lights. The Shay apartment was filled with balloons and the girls were dressed as hobos in homage to the iCarly hobo party days. All that was left was telling Sam about her bachelorette plans.

"Bridesmaids ready?"

The girls quickly nodded and took their hiding spots between various pieces of furniture. Tasha hid behind one of Spencer's sculptures, Wendy was behind the couch, Abby was behind the kitchen counter, and Carly stood in front of the coffee table, the smile on her face already giving away her excitement for what they had in store for Sam.

The door opened and Sam walked in with two bags of party favors in her hands.

"Surprise!"


End file.
